


Day Twenty-Two: In Battle, Side By Side (AKA Just How Quickly Your Day Can Change)

by a_xmasmurder



Series: 30 Days of OTP: Bond/Q [22]
Category: James Bond (Craig movies), James Bond - All Media Types, Skyfall (2012) - Fandom
Genre: 30 Day OTP Challenge, Ambush, Bond Missions tend to go sideways quickly, Don't ask where the helicopter came from, Gen, I can't stress this enough, In Battle Side By Side, M/M, Mission Fic, People get shot, Shady things, TW: Blood, TW: People getting shot, depictions of violence, there will be damage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-05
Updated: 2013-06-05
Packaged: 2017-12-14 00:23:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/830562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_xmasmurder/pseuds/a_xmasmurder
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The scent of battle is hot on the wind this morn. </p><p>Or how Evan, James and Alec's day gets really, really bad really, really quickly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Day Twenty-Two: In Battle, Side By Side (AKA Just How Quickly Your Day Can Change)

**Author's Note:**

> Tags, my friend. Read the tags. This is not fluff or crack. This is a mission fic (or my attempt at one), for god's sake. And it's Bond. Not everything is unicorn farts and sunshine on this planet, nope.

“So, this road leads straight through a checkpoint, yeah?” Bond swung around in his seat and shoved the paper map of the area into his friend’s face. They were sitting in front of the United States Embassy, biding their time until Crabb came out of his meeting with...some Defence official or something like that. He should know, but he couldn't be arsed to care. He was hot and sweaty and more than a little ornery. It was one thing if he was on a mission in a desert country, but this wasn’t a mission. It was a fucking cake walk. He fidgeted and flexed his big hands, not able to sit still. He turned back around and crossed his arms over the steering wheel, hissing as the hot leather covering bit uncomfortably into the soft skin of his inner elbow.

“That’s what Q’s computer is saying, well, verifying, actually. Damn, he’s got some setup here!” Trevelyan whistled low and tapped out commands on the keyboard.

“I wouldn’t know.” Bond shrugged. He had watched Q set up everything, right down to the components of a server that outdid the original that had been running everything at the safe house. His diligence upset the Station T head of technology, William Brockridge, and the man had gone toe to toe with Q over it. The memory of the Quartermaster, half a head shorter and seven stone lighter than Brockridge, dressing that bastard down with nothing more that his wit and calm tone of command, made Bond smile despite his dangerous mood. Just because he’d watched them assemble the network and GPS and upgraded satellite communications and everything inbetween didn’t mean that he knew what everything was. He focused his attention on the front of the embassy, watching the men standing guard at the steps carefully for signs of...anything, really.  _Fuck, just do something already._ _Dance a fucking jig, for all I care._

“Do we need the map anymore?” The other agent folded it carefully and tossed it back up front.

“I don’t - “ Bond looked down at the buzzing mobile lying on the console, between him and the empty passenger seat.

  
  
  
  
  
  


That night, they’d learned of the reason M wanted Q to come along to begin with, _bloody fucking man and his secret agendas_ , when an urgent call from both the Embassies of England and the United States put every one of them on high alert. Q had fielded both calls as they came through on the high tech system, his face growing paler with each minute he’d stayed on the line. Then a call rang through on Q’s personal mobile. That call he’d answered far from the agents, in the guest bedroom with the doors locked. He kept his mouth shut through the evening, stating that he didn’t want to talk about it in front of Crabb, and James had taken it at face value.

Later that night, after he’d collapsed in a sweaty heap on top of James on the heels of his second orgasm, Q voiced his fears and his actual mission to the agent in hushed tones, lips barely moving against the skin of James’s ear. James listened intently, memorising the tone and the actual information, and ran heavy hands over Q's damp back in soothing motions. After the hacker had passed out, James snuck out of the room and found Alec sitting at one of the computer consoles, typing madly with furrowed brows. He’d drawn a breath to start talking, but his comrade held up a hand, asking for silence. Bond had complied, sitting down on the divan across the room. After fifteen minutes filled with soft tap-tap-taptaps of the keys beneath strong fingers, the man pushed away from the table and walked over to James, standing over him.

“I already know about the project, James, and what M wants Q to do while he’s here. I went back and used my credentials to get into the call logs, and listened to them while eating my sandwich.”

“Huh. Using my tactics, now?"

"Not like you need them anymore, seeing as you are wrapped around Q's finger." Alec had smirked, lessening the unintentional blow.

"Seems like this isn’t a normal protection gig anymore.”

Alec’s eyes had tightened. “No, it doesn’t. More than likely, this bloke has people gunning for him.”

“Someone in particular you have in mind?”

“Old friends of yours - or ours, maybe?”

James had set down his phone and sighed. “Quantum, maybe. Doubt it. Maybe someone new, looking to make a splash in a big way?”

Alec dropped down to his haunches in front of his friend. “That’s what I’m looking for, right now. And I don't need help. You go get some sleep. I’ll focus on this, and then in the morning we’ll talk with Crabb about his project.”

Once again, James had complied easily, silent and disturbed at the turn their little vacation had taken. But as he slipped back into bed and was instantly met with a humming and snuggling limpet, he had to smile because...well, no sense of being bored on a mission, right?

Morning had come with a whimper. Alec couldn’t find anything in his search for possible threats, James had woken Q up with a slow blowjob and a cup of coffee, and Crabb alerted them to a sudden change in plans, one they’d been able to anticipate _thanks to the bit of subterfuge that Alec and Q were apparently doing behind my back._ Once out of earshot of their Principal, Bond had pulled Q off to one side and asked, growling and demanding, why he wasn’t in on the fun. Q had only looked up at him and smirked.

“You are my ticket out of this hell hole. I’m not letting you die out here.”

James had laughed and patted Q on the head, something the man absolutely fucking hated, and got swatted in retaliation. _So worth it._

  
  
  
  
  


Now, Bond stared at the mobile for a moment, then picked it up. _It’s Q._ “Bond.”

“It’s not looking good. He has the blueprints, samples of the materials, chemical formulations, everything. It’s all on his person, in his briefcase. I don't think he has a back up squirreled away somewhere, either.”

James could hear frantic typing over the line. Q’s objective was to memorise the presentation and report to M on it, and then further instructions would be given once that report has been reviewed. Q was hard at work, inside the building. Trevelyan were there as muscle for _both_  Crabb and Q. But Q had insisted on going in alone with Crabb.  _Stupid, but logical, if we don't want to tip anyone off that this man was important, that Q himself was important._

“But now he’s not the only one who knows about this project. And you can just hack his laptop or something to get what you need.” James responded easily.

Silence.

 _That can’t be good._ “Can’t you?”

“It isn’t that simple.” The clack of a laptop shutting quickly, then rustling. “Alright. I’m on my way out with Crabb. Be ready to go.”

“Alright.” James turned the key in the ignition, feeling the old armoured Benz purr to life under his hands. A click in his ear announced the end of the call. The backseat creaked unhappily as Alec leaned forward.

“Are we moving?”

“He’s on his way out right now...shit. _Shit._ ”

“What?” Alec jerked to attention.

James narrowed his eyes. “Eleven o’clock, second window up. What the hell are these fucking guards doing, playing Angry Birds?”

Alec looked up, and there it was. Barely a shadow of movement in the dark window, but enough to set the short hairs on end. “Fuck.” He cranked his head back to the door of the embassy. “And there’s Q.”

James trusted Alec to keep an eye on the Quartermaster and their Principle (Q’s Principle, since he’d gone inside the building with him and was armed with one of his specialised handguns like a field agent and he’s the guard now and why the _FUCK_ did James agree to let Q do this by himself Jesus _Christ_ ) as he looked back up and spotted a flash - “Alec! Get Q and Crabb _now!_ There’s a scope.” He shoved the car into Drive and rolled forward as calmly as he could to avoid looking out of place, but as quickly as he could, too. It's an art form he's mastered over the years.

  
  
  
  


Q stepped out of the protection of the overhang, talking quietly to Crabb about the technical difficulties of his communications array and how it would be easier to use a satellite array to achieve the level of -

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw their Mercedes leap forward out of its parking spot, the passenger door behind James popping open as it moved towards the steps. _Oh, shit. Shit, shit, shit. Something's gone sideways._ He tried to stay calm as he glanced up  _\- a bright flash in the second window at his one o’clock, fuck sniper oh my God fuck SHIT -_ and then he was in motion, things he remembered from looking at after-action reports and listening in on mission after mission coming to the forefront of his mind, everything else was extraneous information useless to his situation. He grabbed Crabb by the arm, one hand on his elbow and the other on his shoulder, as he shouted “Sniper!” and pushed the designer down and in front of him. _What the buggering fuck are these guards being paid to do if a fucking sniper can get this close without them knowing_ \- His brain registered the two guards at the bottom of the steps reacting to his warning in entirely not the way he’d expected at all. Panic alarms screamed at him as the men turned on their heels and brought up their assault rifles. “What the hell are you - _Fuck_!” He screeched as the men’s - _enemies now_ \- heads snapped forward under the power of double taps from Alec’s Glock. No time to think right now - He tripped and toppled down the concrete stairs, feeling the skin scrape away from his arm and shin and a rib give as he rolled to avoid cracking his head open on the edge. He heard Crabb let out a yelp as he went down too, and also heard the report of a large calibre round snapping through the air and exploding against the concrete just behind his head. The sting of the fragments snapped his brain into action again as a hand wrapped around his and yanked him to his feet. Muscles pulled painfully at his ribcage, but he was ignoring that in favor of scrambling into the car after Crabb, then crawling over both him and Alec to get to the front seat and yank his laptop _thankfully not damaged from my clumsy fucking trip_ out of the bag.

“Hold on to something, Evan.” Bond’s voice snapped like a stressed rubber band, and Q threw out a hand to brace against the dash as the agent yanked the steering wheel around, sending the car in a one hundred and eighty degree turn that swung Q into the unforgiving door. He yelped as a spark of bright pain left stars in his vision. Then they were away from the snapping reports of even more assault rifles - _where the fuck did these people come from, and why isn’t anyone doing anything about them!_ \- and out on the street, shooting underneath the apparent sniper position. A bullet punched through the roof of the car, leaving a hole that let in the bright sunshine.

“Air conditioning is going off, need power for the engine.” Q reached forward and flicked the knob off.

And just like that, they were on a mission. James was next to him, his voice filling both ears instead of only his left one - “Get me out of here, Q. Exit strategy.”

“Working on it, give me a moment.” His fingers flew over the computer keys, pulling up text editors and command windows, and the new GPS system. “Take a left here - fuck!” Another sharp turn that slammed him into the door, this time with a hissed apology from Bond. Alec was in the back seat with Crabb, looking behind them.

“Mates, you might want to move a bit faster. We have company.”

“Fuck. Alec, can you make their world a little harder to live in for a bit?”

“What do we have to work with, James?”

Bond hissed, trying to think. “Fuck, you are going to have to go out the window, I think. This thing...”

Q pointed up. “Sun roof. Do be careful, Alec, I don’t want you to become cannon fodder this early in the game.” He pressed a button on the console, and the glass partition on the ceiling moved into its recessed bay.

Bond’s grin at the cool voice of countless missions was nothing short of wolfish, and Alec barked out a laugh as he crawled a bit forward so he could push up through the opening. _This was more like it. Much more exciting._ He focused his eyes forward again and cursed. “Mother _fuck_!”

Q’s head snapped up from his GPS. “Right, James, Right, _right now, go go go_!”

On instinct, Bond cranked the wheel before the actual turn, sending the Benz into a skid that had them perfectly square with the street they needed just as the squad of militants blocking their path opened fire on them. Alec ducked back down with a shout and covered Crabb with his body, shouting hoarsely at James. “Drive, you fucking arse!”

“Shut up and let me do my job!”

Q jerked hard in his seat, blinking rapidly, his hands pausing over the keys of his keyboard in shock. _Something hit my side, shit_. “Damn it. Buggering fuck." He tried to keep focused on the screen. "Keep going...down this road until we get to the...oh shit, no, bad, how the _fuck_ do they know where we are going?” He stabbed at the keys. “Fuck, no, we are going to have to take a left, and for fuck’s sake, James, take it a bit slower this time.” He blinked again, and looked up. “I’m going to be a bit...busy. _Fuck_.”

James nodded. “Where’s the left?”

“Two roads down.” Q furrowed his eyes. “Ow.”

“You okay?” Alec looked up from his position. “Are you okay?”

“Fine, just... _ow_. Focus on your job, Alec.”

James kept his eyes on the road, one hand on the wheel as he worked his Walther out of the shoulder holster. “Are you, Alec?”

“Took a bullet. I’ll be fine. Crabb is golden. We are fine back - “

Glass sprayed over the interior of the car as something shattered the rear windscreen.

“Alright, I take that back, we are pretty far from fine. What the fuck was that?” Alec pushed Crabb further down, onto the floorboards, and armed one of the three SA80’s he’d grabbed from the safe house armoury that morning. “Tell me that wasn’t a fucking mortar!”

“Highly doubtful, seeing...seeing as we are still here and not a puddle in the street. James, take a right, then straight on. We need to lose these bastards. Alec, to answer your question, I think that was a new explosive round, something that isn’t supposed to be on the market yet...” Q sucked in a breath and winced as his broken rib flexed. There was something new, dull pressure further down on his side, but he couldn’t spare the time to look now. “Are these seats armoured?”

“Don’t think so.” Bond took the turn and growled deep in his chest as he saw an APC pull out of the adjacent street. “An APC? _Really_? Who the fuck are these people?”

“I don’t know...” Alexander Crabb murmured from the floor. “I don’t know, what is happening, why is this happening?”

“You know damned well why it’s happening, Mr. Crabb!”

Alec jerked his head around at Q’s outburst.

“What?” The man whimpered, and for good reason. The full weight of Q’s stare was focused on him as Bond yanked them into another impromptu slide around another right to get away from the machine gun on the top of the American made APC.

“Your fucking project. What makes you think that other governments or organisations aren’t going to want to have you, and will do everything conceivable to achieve that?” He turned back around, his fingers becoming a blur of movement on the computer. “I’m blocking their attempts to cut us off from any communication with our satellites. I’m very glad I set up that relay in the safe house, now. We need some sort of back up, which I'm procurring right now.”

Bond ducked instinctively as a bullet buried itself into the front windscreen. Q’s eyes went wide at the size of the round. “Is that...”

“Sniper. Yep. They know where we are going. Which is?”

“British Embassy.” Q swallowed, typing furiously. “Fucking cunts. We aren’t going to make it there if this keeps up.”

“So we go for the safe house instead.”

Alec hissed. “That’s all the way on the other side of Tel Aviv, James! Not an option.”

“Better to get out of the fucking kill box and waste some petrol while we are at it. And we could even get some help out there, out of this maze - _fucking hell!_ ” He stomped on the brakes, throwing Alec and Q forward as the car’s wheels tried to lock and skid. "Why?"

“What the - oh, _Jesus fucking_...who the fuck _are_ these people?” Q wanted to scream bloody Mary, but he was feeling very sick to his stomach and dizzy. _Fucking rib_. He lowered his right hand to his side, right over the aching part. It felt hot and sticky. _Oh. Oh, this isn’t good. Not good at all. Fuck. Fucking...shit. No, very bad._ He knew what he would find on his fingers, but he pulled them up anyway.

_Yep. Blood. Fuck._

He looked back up at the helicopter hovering in front of them, five hundred yards away, just sitting there in the air like a fucking wasp, waiting for their next move.

Alec twisted around. “Make your mind up, James, we’ve got people on our six, moving in fast.” He pulled a few more shots off to the rear and cursed viciously.

James took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes. “Let’s do this.” He pressed the accelerator and pointed the car directly in the path of the Lynx’s guns.

 


End file.
